Paul Bettany On The Amadeus Scene He Was Most Excited About — 'But Also Dreading'

"Amadeus" has been one of Paul Bettany's favorite movies for decades. So when he was cast in the TV series based on Peter Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play (which also served as the basis for the movie adaptation), the "WandaVision" actor says, he couldn't wait to portray Italian composer Antonio Salieri.

That said, there was one scene in the narrative that gave him pause.

"The moment that I was most excited by, but also dreading, it was the declaration of war with God in the church," he tells TVLine. 

Viewers will recall that Episode 2 ended with Salieri sitting alone in a sanctuary, talking aloud to the deity to whom he has pledged his entire life's work. Salieri, who has experienced difficulty writing music and jealousy regarding all things Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (played by Will Sharpe), feels slighted. 

"Thank you for showing me what you are. You gave me the desire to praise you, and then made me mute.You put into me the perception of the incomparable, and then insured that I would know myself forever mediocre. Thank you. But why? Why? What have I ever done to you?" he asks, starting to cry. ""I strayed from the path, I came back to you. I came back to you. I promised myself to you, to piety. I have only ever pursued virtue with rigor. I have worked, and I have worked with the talents you allowed me solely that in the end, in the practice of the art that alone makes the world comprehensible to me, I... I might hear your voice. And now I do hear it, and it says only one name. And it's not mine. You chose him, that foul, spiteful, s**t-talking bastard Mozart to be your sole conduit."

He continues, the tone growing more vitriolic by the minute. "And my, my sublime pleasure is to be the one man alive in this time that can clearly recognize your incarnation. You gave me just enough talent to know how little I truly possess. It's... it's a wonderful joke. So be it. From this time on, we are enemies, you and I. I'll not accept it from you. I won't. They say God is not mocked? I tell you, man is not mocked. I tell you: I am not mocked. You are the enemy. I name thee now, and this I swear: To my last breath, I will block you on this Earth. I will block you and your vessel, as far as I'm able. Diminish the man, diminish the God. Kill the man, kill the God."

He continues, the tone growing more vitriolic by the minute. "And my, my sublime pleasure is to be the one man alive in this time that can clearly recognize your incarnation. You gave me just enough talent to know how little I truly possess. It's... it's a wonderful joke. So be it. From this time on, we are enemies, you and I. I'll not accept it from you. I won't. They say God is not mocked? I tell you, man is not mocked. I tell you: I am not mocked. You are the enemy. I name thee now, and this I swear: To my last breath, I will block you on this Earth. I will block you and your vessel, as far as I'm able. Diminish the man, diminish the God. Kill the man, kill the God."

Paul Bettany explains that the reason he wasn't looking forward to delivering the monologue was "that the speech is lifted directly out of the play, and in the play, Salieri talks to the audience." Given that the series had no plans to break the fourth wall and have the composer address the camera, "I was quite confused about how to make it conversational."

Then, inspiration struck.

"I realized I could make it a conversation with a father who is lavishing gifts on this other son, and [Salieri] is just broken and furious," the actor says. "So I was very excited — but also quite nervous — of that scene."

"Amadeus" airs Fridays at 9/8c on Starz, but all five episodes of the limited series now are available to stream on the Starz app.